shields



(N0 MbdeL) 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

H. 0. SHIELDS. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFAGTUREOP GAS.

No. 399,087. Patented Mar. 5, 1889;

Y f ti mmmmmui MIJIIIIII mull I l m. mmnuluulmmii a (No Model.) 3 Sheets-8115212152.

EL G SHIELDS. APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS. No. 399,087.. Patented Mar. 5, 1889,

(No Model.) a sheets-sheen 3; H. G. SHIBLDS.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF GAS.

. Patented Mar. 5, 1889.

llnrrnn STATES Aren't @rrtcn.

HENRY (f'. Sllll lLDS, OF TROY, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS FOR THE MANUFACTURE 02 GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,087, dated liiarch 5, 1889.

Application filed December 16, 1887. Serial No. 258,080. (No model.)

To all whom it) may concern:

Be it; known that l. HENRY (I SHIELDS, a l resident ot' the city of Troy, in the county of i Renssclacr and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvei'nents in Apparatus for the Manufacture of Gas; and g I do hercb v declare that the following is a full, clear. and exact descri nion of the invention, that will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference I marked thereon, which form a part. of this specification.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in the several figures therein.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for the manufacture of heating and illuminating gas; and it consists of the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter described, and pointed outin the claims.

The invention which forms the subject of this application may be regarded as an improvement upon the apparatusshown and described in United States Letters Patent 50. t 259,72 issued to me June 20, 188?,for im- 5 provements in the Process of and apparatus for producing illuminating and heating gas, to which reference may be had. The objection to the process of reversing the currents of steam and gas in a gas-generator has been 5 heretofore the complication of valves required to accomplish such reversal, which rendered the gas-maker liable to errors in operating the valves, which might result in an explosion within the generator. For instance, after having admitted steam at the top of the generator and taken gas out of the bottom an explosion would probably follow when the airblast was admitted to reheat the fuel, unless the gas that remained in the bottom of the generator was first driven out by the introduction of steam.

The objects of my invention are to overcome the danger of explosion in the generator and the danger of losing a run by mistakesin opening the upper steam-inlet and gas-outlet or the lower steam-inlet and gas outlet valves, which would allow the steam 1 to escape without passing through the incandescent fuel, and to simplify and render more l i of theusualinternal construction. resents a side elevation of same.

a Fig. 1.

i inlet.

ctlicient and d urablc the means for reversing the currents of steam and gas in the generator, and provide a valve which can be exposed to excessive heat without injur; to its effectiveness as a valve.

Figure l of the drawings represents, in front elevation. gas, steam, and blast pipes and valve and part of the shell of a gas-generator Fig. 2 repl ig. rep resents a plan view of same. partly in horizontal section, taken on broken line A B in Fig. 4 represents a side elevation of double gas-valve connected with a two-way cook, the valve and cook being shown detached. Fig. 5 represents a plan view of same. Fig. 6 represents a vertical section of the valve shell or case, the other parts being shown in elevation. Fig. 7 represents a horizontal section of the two-way steam-cock. Fig. 8 represents a. vertical section of the parts shown in Fig. 5, taken on the lines A B. 9 and 10 are respectively side and front elevations showing modified forms of my invention.

In Fig. 1,0 is the shell of the generator; D, the lower gas-outlet and steam and air-blast I is a T which connects the same to the double valve F. Said T is provided with a removable plate, L, for cleaning the same; also, with a side inleopipc, to which is attached the blast-valve K.

E is the upper gas-outlet and steam-inlet, and also serves as the outlet for the products of combustion.

H is a T provided with an expansion-joint at its lower end, which receives the end of pipe G and forms the connection with double valve 1.

The outlet of the double valve is connected with dip-pipe Y in seal \V by the v nected by means cl? pipe Q to pipe E, and the lower outlet of which. is connected to pipe I) by means of pipe R, and also to circular pipe S, extending around the generator and shown in part only. S is connected into the sides of the generator TOO ' he circular or runaround pipe at frequent intervals just above the grate, the connections being provided with valves or cocks S to regulate the flow of steam into the generator.

T is a steam-cock in pipe R below the runaround pipe.

The valve case or shell of the double valve F is made of cast-iron or other suitable material in the form of a T, with a side opening, N, for the admission of the valve 111.

forming the T the case is enlarged or bulged outward, so as toget the full area of the pipes when the valve mis in position, as shown in Fig. 6, m representing the bulge. The valve has an upper seat, '12, and lower seat, 0. The valve 177. is made of cast-iron in the form of a ball with the upper and lower parts cut off, as shown in Fig. 6, and is lathe-turned, so as to make a gas-tight joint with the turned seats 12. or 0. On the front of the pipe which forms the upper inlet of the valve there is a projecting box or chamber, 0*, which incloses the valve-actuating lift-arm or lever 72, and through which passes the shaft g, to which lever 71 is secured by means of pin or setscrew.

The box may have an exterior opening on its projecting end for the insertion or removal of the valve-actuating parts into or from the laterally-projecting chamber, which opening is shown covered by plate 7'. The sides of the chamber inclosure may be provided with stuffing-boxes to receive the shaft g. The lever 72 is connected to the eyebolt in valve m by links i "1'. The bolts through the links should have sufficient play to allow the valve to hang plumb when being changed from one seat to the other. A lever-arm, (Z, fixed upon a projecting end of shaft g, is connected by link 6 to the cock-wrench f. Shaft g is also prov-idedwith an operating-handle, a, fixed thereon. A lock-frame, b, is attached to the valve-case and is provided with a segmental slot, b, adapted to contain a follower secured to the handle a, having a lQCklllg-TQHCII, c. Theshell or case of steam-cock p is of the usual construction; but the plug or valve 19- has only two passages instead of three, as shown in Fig. 7.

' When the lever a is in the position shown in Fig. 4:, the valvem is in the lower seat, 0, and the'plug in steam-cock p is in a proper position to admit steam to the lower part of the generator, while the gas escapes from the upper part of the generator.

\Vhen lever a is in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 4;, valve on occupies the upper seat, 71, to which seat it has been carried by the handle a, shaft g, actuating-lever h, and links 1', the plug in the steam-j'co clrp being reversed at the same time by means of shaft"g, arm d, link 6, and cock'wrench f to admitsteam at the upper part of the generate n a e se eeni es 'Q sasfre n ower pa ef th lam- At the intersection of the center line of the pipes l The operation of my improved apparatus is as follows: hen the generator is in condition to receive the air-blast, the escape-valve M is opened and steam admitted for an instant through valve 0 and lower pipe, D, to purge the bottom of the generator of any gas that might be present. Steam-valve O is then closed and blast-valve K opened, admitting air to the bottom of generator, the products of combustion escaping through open valve M. After the fuel in the generator has been sufficiently heated the blast-valve is closed and steam-valve O is opened, admitting steam to the bottom of the generator as before, the two-way cock P being in the position shown in Fig. 2 to admit steam through R into the lower pipe, D. Escape-valve M is closed as soon as the products of combustion are driven out, and the gas being produced escapes through pipe E, T H, and pipe G to outlet of double valveF, thence through elbow U, dip-pipe V to seal V, and finally to outlet of seal, where it is taken to the holder or to the point where it is to be used. After the steam has been directed into the bottom of the generator, as above described, for a few seconds it is generally desirable to reverse the direction of the steam-current to the topfof the generator and permit the gas to escape from the bottom. This is accomplished by turning down lever a to the position shown by dotted lines in Figs. 2 and 4, where it is locked to frame I) bylock-nut c, which reverses the position of the gas-valve m and steamcock valve P, as before described. Steam then enters at the top of the generator through pipes Q and E and the gas escapes through pipe D, T I to the outlet of double valve F, from which it escapes, as'before described. Just before the run is finished the lever to is again reversed or thrown back to the position' show-n by solid lines in Figs. 2 and 4, thus admitting 'stea-m again at the bottom of the generator, which drives out the gas and leaves the generator in condition to receive the air-blast as soon as steamevalve Q is closed and escape-valve M opened. It will thus be seen that the connection of the reversing steam-cock in the steam-pipe and the double or reversing valve in the gaspipe with a common operating-handle not onlypermits 7 great convenience in operating said cock and valve, but renders it impossible to reverse one without at the same time reversing the other.

By reducing the complication of valves the sa i naks is e s l a l t m t kes hich mi h r ult ii re t m ge 9 rrqiier y a ings of the generator, consisting of the runaround pipe S and connections into the generator, before described.

The connections may be provided with cocks or valves S for adjusting the quantity of steam to be admitted.

hen desired, the steam-supply pipe may be connected directly to the runaround pipe, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, the connection being provided with a stop-cock, S by means of which connection steam may be admitted wholly through the runaround pipe and taken off either at the top or bottom of the generator as gas. The cock T in pipe R is only used when it is desired to adjust the distribution of steam between pipes R and the runaround pipe to force more or less steam in at the sides of the generator, while the main supply passes through the pipe R and inlet D into the bottom of the generator.

In Figs. 9 and 10 I have shown the upper and lower outlet-pipes provided with separate valves, F and F, and the steam-supply pipes Q and R each n-ovided with a separate stopcock, P and P, and connections therefrom to a common actuating-lever, a. The lever (1 which operates the valve F, is connected by links a a", and a? with the lever (1, which operates the valve F", so that when the connecting-links are given a vertical movement by handle a, attached to link (1 the actuating-levers are moved, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 10, to open one valve and close the other. The cocks P and P are each provided with a cock-wrench, (L7, pivoted to the link (15, by which they are opened and closed simultaneously with the valves, the cock P being closed when the valve F is opened and the cock P"being opened when the valve F is closed.

Although the arrangement necessitates a greater complication of valves than is required by the use of a single reversing gas-valve and single reversing steam cook or valve hereinbefore described, it nevertheless enables me to reverse the direction of steam entering the generator and the direction of gas escaping therefrom by the movement of one common actuating-lever.

hat I claim as new, and desire to secure l by Letters Patent, is-

1. In combination with a gas-generator pro vided with upper and lower gas-outlets and l upper and lower steam-supply pipes leading to and connecting with reversing-valves, a valve-reversing lever common to and connected with each of said valves, whereby a single movement of the lever will reverse the direction of steam entering the generator and the direction of gas escaping therefrom, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

2. The combination, with a gasgenerator having valved upper and lower gas-outlet pipes and upper and lower valved steanrsupply pipes, of a valved runaround steam-supply pipe having connections leading to the interior of the generator through its sides at a pluralitgv of points intermediately of the upper and lower steamsuppl v-pipe inlets to the generator, substantially as described.

3. A valve-case having interiorly two circular valveseats, each forming the mouth of one of two inlets to the case, and intermediately of said seats a third opening, which forms the outletfrom said case, and a lever-chamber formed by lateral extension of the valve-case, in combination with a valve suspended between and movable from one to the other of said seats, and a valve supporting and actuating lever-arm vertically vibratory in said chamber and fined upon an actuating-shaft passing through said chamber and projecting exteriorly from the valve-case, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. l. The combination, with a gas-generator, oi upper and lower gas-outlets, valved upper and lower steam-supply pipes, and a single valve-operating lever operative to conversely open and close the valvular openings in said supply-pipes, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with a gas-generator, of an upper and lower steam-supply pipe, valved upper and lower gas-outlet pipes, and a single valve-operating lever operative to conversely open and close the valvular openings in said outlet-pipes, substantially as described, and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand this lith day of December, 1837.

HENRY C. SHIELDS.

Witnesses:

Gno. A. MosHER, (inns. L. ALDEN. 

